Ustyurt Plateau National Preserve

Ustyurt is a part of the cross-border Mangyshlak plateau situated on the Aral-Caspian watershed on the territory of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and also the well known Mangystau area. Ustyurt National Biosphere Preserve was founded in 1984 Kazakhstan and it covers only a small portion of the whole plateau. For centuries, the Ustyurt Plateau has been a crossroad of civilizations and has preserved traces of many cultures. Medieval cemeteries including the majestic mausoleums – mazars – are scattered across the plateau. The most interesting tourist routes in the preserve is the Journey Along the Great Silk Road, extending across the Mangistau region from south to north, extending further to the northwest, to the Ustyurt Plateau and through the Shetpinskie Gates to the Caspian coast.

Ustyurt National Preserve is being promoted to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The reserve occupies the territory of 223 thousand hectares and it is a secures habitat. There are rare species of animals listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan: desert antelope gazelle, Ustyurt mountain sheep, desert lynx – caracal, a distant relative of the badger honey badger, saker falcon, and vulture. 

The Ustyurt State Nature Reserve is placed in a zone of sharply continental climate, which means that there is a rather harsh climate throughout the year. Summer in the area is usually extremely dry and hot, while in the winter occurs storms and strong winds. The air temperature, in the summer months the temperature rises to + 30 ° С, and in the winter drops to -10 ° С.